


Epic Love

by JJ8



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:47:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22365100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JJ8/pseuds/JJ8
Summary: Set after 2x08 but Hope doesn’t say ‘I love you’ back and Landon and her end up breaking up, making room for unexplored feelings.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 28
Kudos: 301





	1. A Lost Bond

"I love you, Hope." It seemed genuine and it was sweet but it just wasn't the same. She did love Landon on a deeper level, in a wholesome way but maybe in a childish one as well. It was lost, the bond that once made them who they were as a couple and as friends. She felt so disappointed by life and love and happiness. Betrayed by the idea of everlasting love and always and forever and the meaning of a purposeful life.  
A couple of weeks ago she might have felt different, would have kissed him right there and then, would have smiled from ear to ear by the sound of those three words. 

She was used to losing people, she knew the pain and while it hurt to be forgotten by Landon, it didn't feel like the end of her world. The whole world forgetting her existence made her miserable but it also made her realize that it was the life she build for herself, the family she created was what she had missed. Her safe place. She had mistaken Landon to be all of that when in reality he was just one puzzle piece. He wasn't her epic love, he was her first love and he was so kind, so sweet, funny and intelligent but he was not the one. 

"This is the part where you say..." Landon looked hopeful, a smile painted on his lips and his eyes honest and wide. Hope sighed. 

"I'm sorry, Landon. I can't say that." He looked shattered at that which made her heart ache. He was important to her, she didn't want to see him suffer. 

"Oh." He stepped back and took a deep breath. "Listen, I know that we went through a rough patch and I'm sorry that I brought us all into this situation but I genuinely tried so hard to remember you. I died a hundred times for you and I would have done it double as much if I could have prevented-"

"Landon!" She cut him off. "It's not about you not fighting hard enough for us, it isn't much about you in general. I know it sounds cliche but it really is me and not you."

Defeated, he looked down at his shoes shaking his head. "Well, then I don't get it, Hope. What happened?"

"The pit happened. My life falling apart happened. I honestly am just reassessing my life, my purpose, my feelings. And I know it's selfish but I just can't be with you right now. You don't deserve to be with someone who will second guess the relationship at any given time." Tearing up she leaned forward taking his hand. "I'm so sorry, Landon." 

It didn't feel right to give up on him after wishing for him to remember for so long. Although it was the right decision in the long run, it was awful at this moment. She wanted to tell him that she just needed some time but this was nothing time could fix. She didn't want to lie to him.

He held her hand tightly, lifting his gaze to meet hers. His eyes had always been her favorite feature of his, his dark and full lashes always made him look like he was wearing eyeliner, a bit like a pirate. Something that would always bring a smile to her face. She loved so many things about him, the little things and the obvious things...just not enough. He looked at Hope as he chose his words carefully.

"Will there ever be an 'us' again?" The words left his mouth slowly and Hope looked at their joined hands, stroking her thumb across his palm. 

"Not like that, no." 

They stood in silence for a moment and Hope was still looking at their hands when Landon gave hers one last squeeze before he broke the contact and left inside the school. Hope couldn't help but feel relieved although she felt sad for him, sad for their relationship and sad for their bond. It was the right decision, it was just not a great feeling to know she had broken his heart.

-

"What are you doing?" The sudden sound made Hope sit upright from her position on the couch, turning around to see Lizzie joining her in the library. Lizzie was wearing a pyjama shirt with shorts, her hair tied together, looking ready for bed. 

"Nothing, really." Hope responded, quickly wiping at her eyes and putting on a smile. The other witch narrowed her brows and moved forward to steal a cookie of the tray on the table. 

"And does crying help with that?" Lizzie tilted her head a bit, offering a small soft smile while pointing to Hope's reddened face. 

"A little bit, actually." 

"Seriously though, are you good?" Lizzie seemed a little unsure in her newfound role of being nice to the tribrid and Hope wasn't really too keen on discussing this with the witch either. Reluctantly she got to her feet, sighing deeply and turned away from Lizzie to walk towards the staircase. "Look, Lizzie, I appreciate you trying to be nice but you really aren't the right person to talk about this with right now."

Out of all people she did not need to complain about her miserable love life to the sister of the girl that had just gotten her heart broken, which ultimately was her fault. She had broken two hearts in one night, that felt like an outstanding performance of a villain. Maybe she was indeed a Mikaelson and what people said was right. Maybe they were a pack of big bad wolves with selfish black hearts and it was their fates to make everyone just as miserable.  
But giving in and pouring that out to Elizabeth Saltzman wasn't right. 

"Wait, wait, wait. This is also about the poodle boy?" Lizzie followed her up the stairs sounding utterly outraged. When Hope didn't answer she just continued. "But if you are upset, why did my sister throw me out of the room while crying all heartbroken and sad?"

Hearing that made her heart ache, she didn't want Josie to feel that way. Landon should have just chosen her, then everyone would be happy. Everyone except Hope maybe, she no longer knew what made her happy or what her heart desired but it surely wasn't this. The two witches now stood in front of Hope's room, and the Mikaelson turned to face Lizzie.

"Can we not do this right now, Lizzie?" She sent an apologetic glance towards the taller girl, gripping the door handle. 

"But now is like the perfect time. I don't have anywhere to go, because I got kicked out, so now I gotta wait until Jo falls asleep so I can sneak back in. And I hate to acknowledge it but you really look like you could use a friend." Lizzie smiled and Hope escaped a breathy laugh. "Overall I would at least like to know what this is about." 

Hope sighed and opened the door to let her friend in, before closing it and taking off her shoes. They both settled on the bed, laying down to look at the ceiling. 

"So?" Lizzie asked after a moment of silence. 

"I can't be with him." And with that small sentence she felt just as bad as she did an hour ago admitting it the first time. She could feel Lizzie nodding next to her. 

"But he did choose you?"

"Yes." She whispered. "I never wanted to cause all of this drama, I didn't expect any of this. And I really, really never intended on hurting Josie in the process. She is not collateral damage, she is not a second choice. This is all just messed up, you have to tell her that." She wanted Josie to know her worth desperately, she didn't deserve this at all. 

"I think that deep down she knows that you didn't mean for all of this but I guess it'll hurt for a while." Hope could understand that. "Maybe you need to make her understand why you chose this path, help me understand."

"It doesn't feel the same anymore." 

"Why? Because he made out with Jo a few times? Because I feel like it has been established that we didn't remember you." Lizzie sounded genuinely confused but not angry. 

"He should have." Hope teared up again, trying to keep her voice steady. "I know it's stupid and unreasonable but I really needed him to remember me."

"What difference would that have made? He knows now, he loves you now." The blonde tried to point out.

"I don't know how to explain it. We had this one thing going for us. We were this magical, happy end, epic love couple. It was a love that could counter every boundary, at least that's what it felt like. We had this spark that makes everlasting love because our love felt unstoppable. But it was. It stopped. So easily from one second to the next it was gone. But it was this one thing going for us and if we don't have that, I don't think there is much else. It was naive to think that his love could get him to remember, but it was necessary because our relationship was based on this naive sense of eternity." It felt great to finally let out this ridiculous concept of her mind that she felt so strongly about. 

"And Josie." She laughed bitter tears. "Oh, Josie. I mean how could you not want to be with her, she's beautiful and kind and everything you could wish for in a girlfriend. I would choose her a hundred times over me. And then Landon didn't even do that. He chose me. Because he doesn't understand that in order for us to work it should never have been a choice. I'm not blaming him for that, it is what it is. It's my fault for making us something that we never were."

Lizzie had listened attentively, nodding every now and then, giving Hope space to tell her story. "So from what I got, he should have remembered and being with you shouldn't have been a choice because the bottom line of your relationship was a naive concept of magical love which he couldn't fulfill."

"I sound crazy, don't I?" Hope covered her face with her hands, ashamed of her words and her truth. 

"Take this from a person who regularly is believed to be crazy. You just sound honest." Lizzie pulled her hands away. "I think it makes sense and it's good to live by truth. If he's not the one then so be it."

Hope had never believed Lizzie to be a comforting person but she was relieved to stand corrected and have her here although she felt a little guilty since Lizzie should technically try and make her twin feel better instead of her. 

"Thanks, Liz." Lizzie offered half a smile before leaning back against the pillow. 

-

The next few days had gone by rather lonely. Hope had lost all her friends in one go, Landon spent all his time in his room, Rafael didn't but he never got closer than three arm lengths from her. She didn't dare talking to Josie and she could only hang out with Lizzie when the siblings weren't spending their time together. She didn't want to bother anyone by trying to fix something that was out of her reach so she thought it was best to let time pass. Being alone wasn't new to her anyway.  
Finally today she had chosen to just eat with MG and Kaleb they never failed to make her laugh and they weren't going to judge all her bad choices. 

"You look like a lost puppy, although that might be expected from a wolf." Kaleb said throwing a fry into his mouth. "Stop the longing stares, this isn't twilight."

"Maybe if you'd sparkle I'd like you more." Hope said, feeling caught in her brooding. She had only looked around for a bit, seeing Raf with Josie, making her laugh while they talked and ate together. They were both selfless people, they deserved one another, she thought to herself. 

"You should just talk to them." MG's voice was muffled as he stuffed his face with salad. 

"Why are you eating salad?" She answered instead of acknowledging his suggestion. 

"He's trying to look fit for a certain Elizabeth." Kaleb said and rolled his eyes. "Don't bother explaining to him that he is a vampire and has a super fast metabolism anyway. It's not worth your time."

"It's about more than that. It's about making an effort." MG gave Hope a sweet smile as if she was supposed to agree with him. 

"Sure." Hope shrugged, going back to picking at her food. 

"What?" MG leaned down, almost laying on the table to be at her eye level. "Say what you need to say, woman." 

Hope laughed. "I don't think you'll win her over by eating salad. Because, and I'm going to tell you this secret only because we are friends," She leaned forward, lowering her voice. "She's not even here." 

He threw a piece of salad at her, rolling his eyes. "I miss the good old days when you could just compell women to agree with you." Hope gave him a look but couldn't help but laugh along Kaleb. "You and Lizzie are surprisingly close nowadays. I'll tell you what, if you'll be my wingman with Lizzie, I'll do you the same favor with Josie." 

"I'm not trying to date Josie, though." She shook her head. Also she couldn't even get Lizzie to open the door for her yesterday when her hands were full with books. She wondered what made MG think she had such a strong hold on her. "I'm not Penelope." 

"Aren't you though?" Kaleb made a face, looking at her. "Both of these things?" 

"What do you mean?" Hope crossed her arms defensively. She was not anything like Penelope even though she didn't know why she wanted no comparison between the two. 

"Well, you spend all that time, staring at Josie, you didn't even notice Landon coming in 10 minutes ago." She looked around to see that he in fact had entered the room but was sitting by himself with his face in a book. Raf was looking at him from a distance, Josie tried hard not to. Hope was shocked that she hadn't even seen him. "Also, you made her miserable but then go on and on about how you only want the best for her. Sounds a lot like Penelope to me."

"Huh." MG tilted his head thinking about Kaleb's words. "That is kind of-" 

"It's not true." She cut him off by pointing her finger at him. "I am way nicer than Penelope and I never tried to date Josie!" 

"Ok, but have you wanted to?" MG questioned, leaning back to look at her in full picture. 

"Stop." She put down her fork. "I could never date Jo, I mean look at us. Landon and everything. Also don't you think we would have had something going on by now if we were attracted to each other? I have known her since forever." She felt like she could rest her case at that but MG and Kaleb got their trays before they stood up. 

"First of all, Hope Mikaelson, feelings come and go unpredictable. Timing is everything.  
Second of all, sometimes you gotta wait for your epic love story to evolve. You can't just deny it before it starts. Call me a hopeless romantic but I believe when the person is right the person is right. It's called true love, look it up." MG winked at her. "And last but not least I have to go to class now, so have a nice day." 

Hope huffed when she watched them leave. She wasn't denying anything, there wasn't anything there. She could not see how the boys had gotten such a wrong impression but she did spend quite some time on that day trying to figure it out. 

-

The old mill was packed with older students and ones that pretended to be old enough when they arrived. Loud music was blasting through the woods which left Hope wondering how long it would be until Dr. Saltzman would crash the party and probably ban the whole school from the woods for awhile. It didn't occur to Hope anyway why people with supernatural hearing needed to turn the music up to a level of pain. 

"Could you stop your pity-party-look? It's depressing." Lizzie had convinced her to go to this pre-break party which was thrown by the seniors multiple times a year. She had only eventually given in because she thought it was a rare occasion that Lizzie asked that of her even now that they had gotten closer and she could use some distraction. So now she was getting dragged through trees, following the tall girl who was surprisingly oriented and the sound of music blindly. 

"There is no such thing as a pity-party-look." Hope said rather half-heartedly to which Lizzie turned around with a mixture of feigned annoyance and humor in her face. 

"Yes, there is and it's the one on your face." Hope could only roll her eyes in response even though Lizzie couldn't tell in the dark. "Now loosen up, Hope Mikaelson, we are going to have fun tonight." To the pity party that was Hope Mikaelson it sounded more like a threat than motivation but she did follow the twin into the sight of the mill. 

\- 

The party was about what Hope had expected, lots of drunk and rebellious wolves, a bunch of loud and self-praising vampires and some brooding witches nodding to the beat of rap music that made her reconsider everything good about modern culture. Nevertheless she had to admit that hanging out with Lizzie had been fun, they had had a couple of sweet drinks, had danced with MG and Kaleb for a while and in good old Lizzie-demeanor she had made every conversation about herself which meant Hope didn't need to talk about her own problems. 

Landon wasn't there but she had caught a glimpse of Raf every now and then even though he avoided her like a plaque. She was happy to see him have fun though, after all having a pack at least provided friends. She had seen Josie a couple of times, downing one drink after another but she thought it was best to keep herself out of the brunette's business for a while. 

"What the hell is she doing?" Lizzie said more to herself than anyone else. Hope looked up, following her gaze and sighed. Josie was dancing very sloppy, stumbling all over the place. Her shirt was rising more and more up and the way the guy across from her looked at the drunk witch made her sick. Lizzie got to her feet and walked over to the self-proclaimed dance floor, trying to catch a hold of her sister. They talked briefly, something Hope couldn't hear but Josie didn't look very appreciative of Lizzie's help. The brunette continuously pushed her sister away, ripping her arm from her grip and rolling her eyes backwards in a way that didn't look healthy. After one particular hard shove against Lizzie, Hope felt the need to step in. 

"Hey! That's enough, don't you think?" She didn't say it harshly or anything but she did take Josie's hand off Lizzie's shoulder, holding onto it, trying to keep her steady. 

"Hope, don't." Lizzie tried to calm things before they rose up but it was too late. 

"Oh, fuck off, Hope." Josie ripped her hand away, almost falling over in the process. "You can have your happy ever after with Landon, I don't care. But mind your own business, don't pretend to care about my sister. Go find yourself another best buddy, just not her." Josie was slurring her words and unintentionally spilled half her beer onto Hope's shoes while trying to point her finger at the tribrid. Hope stepped back and scoffed at the words while Lizzie rubbed her forehead. 

"I'm not pretending and you know that. I do care. For both of you, even if you don't want to hear it right now." She felt maybe honesty could save the situation but she was mistaken. 

"I would for once like to not hear you say anything." Josie threw her head back and groaned. "Everything you say or do makes other people unhappy. Why don't you just stop talking, we would all be better off." 

Before Hope could let the words sink in and be hurt by them Lizzie reached out and squeezed her arm. "She doesn't mean that and even if she did it's not true."  
Lizzie grabbed her sister's hand. "You are so drunk, petty and heartbroken, you are making a fool out of yourself. Let's just go back to school, Jo." She pulled on Josie's hand the slightest bit but it was enough to make the twin stumble over and send her to the ground. In an attempt to catch herself she pulled Hope straight back down with her, not giving her any time to react. 

"Oh, man." She could hear Lizzie mutter. As Josie had landed on Hope's arm, the wolf had scraped her arm on the wooden floor and grimaced as she could feel something warm immediately running down her sleeve. "Ow."

Josie propped herself up on her elbows and really had the nerve to chuckle. "I don't get it." She shook her head while Hope sat up, inspecting her arm. 

"You don't get what?" She asked rather annoyed at this point, getting to her feet. 

"Why is it that everybody in this stupid town wants you? People are like drooling when you walk by. Why? What is it about you? What makes you so special?"

"Stop." This wasn't funny, people were watching them and she wasn't in the mood to continue arguing with a girl that lost all control. She offered her hand to Josie. "Get up. Come on." 

"No, explain it to me. Everyone is after you and you're not even trying. You're not being nice, you're not flirting, you don't even like to talk to people. You're just standing there, looking beautiful, being a Mikaelson and people go crazy." She sounded almost hysterical and Hope felt her pain but it didn't make it more enjoyable to listen to her nonsense. Josie had tears in her eyes and Hope was speechless. Finally she let Lizzie help her up but she immediately turned back to Hope. 

"What is it about you?" She really sounded like she expected an answer from somebody as she studied Hope's face. She had gotten what she wanted, Hope was finally upset. Josie was her friend and no matter what, she didn't deserve to be humiliated in front of the whole school. 

Josie's gaze was all over her face until it settled on Hope's lips. Before the tribrid could have any reaction at all, Josie had put both her hands on her neck and pulled her in. The twin's full lips met her own with an overwhelming force, making Hope's heart jump and miss a beat at the same time. She couldn't help but give in for moment, not knowing what was happening, so she closed her eyes and tasted the alcohol of the girl's lips as they moved against her own. Just when she could feel the witch's tongue against her mouth, they were finally separated by Lizzie. It couldn't have been a very long kiss, but it had been so overwhelming that it felt like a small eternity. 

"Josie, what the hell, honestly." Lizzie looked at them completely outraged, Hope wasn't able to say anything and Josie just looked pretty happy with her actions. 

"Huh, I guess I get it now." Josie answered her own question but was dragged away by her sister shortly after, giving Hope the chance to start breathing again.


	2. Damned for eternity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m baaaack. I wrote this a month ago but forgot to post it. Whoops. Anyway here it is, have fun reading it while we are all waiting for the return of the show. Stay safe!

Hope woke up early in the morning. She felt uncomfortable in her body, having too much energy to be laying in bed, in need of movement. It was the same feeling she got on full moon. The need to be out, to run and be impulsive. She was in control but she could feel the wolf inside of her trying to break free. 

Deciding that she was never gonna fall back asleep, she got up, grabbed a jacket and walked barefoot into the dawn of the night. She had felt weird for a while now, ever since the whole Landon thing and now also the Josie thing at the mill. Her feelings were overwhelming her but she couldn't really make sense out of everything. She felt an incredible amount of guilt when she dared to think of Landon. She missed him so much, missed having him close, missed laughing with him and absolutely hated knowing she hurt him. It was weird to think that they used to spend all their time together, they ate all their meals together, they studied together, they dreamed together, they fought danger together. They were always together. 

Hope kept thinking that she had given up her right to miss him and to feel bad about being apart when she had broken his heart. Whenever that thought crossed her mind she felt even worse. 

At the very least she didn't have to see him very often as he skipped a lot classes these days. Much to everyone's concerns.

The past few days she had felt so bad about herself that she considered asking him to forgive her, forget what she said and take her back. She didn't actually want him back because she had meant what she said but she wanted her life back and she desperately wanted Landon to feel better. It would have been selfish. Of course she didn't do it but she had considered it a couple of times. He needed time. Everyone did. Landon, Rafael, Josie and Hope herself. In the meantime she felt as if she had traded one depression for another. From the loneliness that came with not existing to the loneliness that came with everyone hating her. 

It seemed to be the reason why she could feel the wolf pushing against her from the inside. It was a self soothing mechanism. An animal didn't feel all of this, didn't have to think so much, had simpler thoughts. Their focus was on survival. 

Hope breathed in the cool air of the night and listened to the silence of the dark. The sky was pitch black and she couldn't make out any stars. No human being was out there. She jogged over to the first trees of the woods and pulled the jacket off. As soon as she was out of sight, she took the rest of her clothing off and let the beast consume her. As soon as her body transformed, she felt an overwhelming amount of relief, she felt lighter, her senses were sharp and her head felt free. She ran through the woods, not caring one bit about how loud her steps were. Even now she could see both Josie's and Landon's faces in her imagination. She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. It was painful even as a wolf but with the animalistic focus she could at least tell that Josie made her feel some sort of excitement besides the the pain. Something new. With Landon it was more like a hurt wolf in her pack that needed protection.   
She ran faster, trying to escape what was left of her life. 

She heard the growl before she felt the hit. 

Something hit her side full sprint and she flew through the air and against a tree with her other side. She yelped before she turned back human unintentionally, losing the grip on her wolf form. Her heart started racing and she quickly turned around. The side that had hit the tree throbbed badly, she had definitely broken a rib. It had knocked the wind right out and now it was painful to inhale. Her yellow eyes searched the area for the attacker, raising one hand to defend herself with magic but was only met by another pair of glowing yet familiar eyes. It was Rafael standing in front of her and his eyes lost the magic turning back human. 

"Oh, no, are you alright, Hope?" He asked, quickly turning away from her, his face showing shock and embarrassment. Hadn't she been in so much pain, she probably would also have felt embarrassed given that she was lying naked in the woods.

"No." She huffed in pain clutching her bare ribcage. "But it'll be fine."

"I thought you were an intruder. I'm sorry." He rubbed the back of his head while staring into the woods. "I didn't mean to hurt you." 

"Would you mind catching me my clothes, they are where the school's land meets the woods." She could hear him agreeing but he was already running into the direction she came from. Scrunching up her face, Hope sat up and leaned against the tree she crashed into. What a start into the day, sitting naked in the woods with a broken rib. What was Rafael doing here? The sun wouldn't rise for another hour and really what intruder would she be, running away from the school instead of towards it? 

He came back quickly and held his hand in front of his eyes, throwing her clothes somewhere wildly into her direction.

"Thanks." She mumbled, pulling her clothes on in a hurry. The silence between them becoming very apparent with every passing second. "You can look now."

"What are you doing here this early anyway?" He asked and Hope realized how good it felt to hear his voice again after so much time being ignored.

"Just trying to feel better about myself. What about you?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." He shrugged. "I've been in these woods for so long, nowadays I only feel real comfort here, you know?"

"But you don't fully turn." It wasn't a question more of an observation. Her eyes fixed on the ring he was still wearing that gave him the power to turn at will but not turn back. 

"No." His gaze lifted into the stars. "I'm afraid I don't come back. I wouldn't want you to get lost again." A light chuckle left his mouth. He seemed more content in the darkness of the woods than he had all this time that he was back. Hope sighed as she felt a familiar tightness in her chest. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

"Don't be, you stopped existing. I think I had it better than you in those times." He sounded genuine but she felt there was more to say, more to forgive.

"I'm also sorry for everything else that happened between us. You must hate me." Raf looked her in the eyes and it felt intense but not angry or upset. He raised one brow and motioned for her to follow her back to the school.

"I don't hate you but you really don't make it easy on me, Hope." Confused by his words she waited for him to explain further while they walked through the dark. "The whole Landon thing doesn't sit right with me. I know you were hurt and all but you broke his heart." Shaking his head he continued. "The one thing that made me feel good about this between me and you was knowing at least my brother was getting happy. But then you go and do that. And I wonder why. Are you trying to hurt him, is this your revenge on him? Is that why you kissed Josie?"

"Josie kissed me!" She stopped dead in her tracks. "And besides you got it all wrong." How did the kiss even reach Rafael's ears and why did he think so poorly of her. 

"Oh, yeah?" He also stopped to look at her.

"Yes!" Hope exclaimed. "I would never try and hurt him on purpose, I feel terrible about the situation, if there was anything to make it better I would do it immediately. Also there is no reason for revenge, why would I do that to him intentionally?"

"I don't know, after all you are a Mikaelson and from what I've heard..." He had just stepped on very thin ice and that on the wrong night. Hope couldn't help her eyes turning yellow again and a growl escaped her throat. She didn't mean to but he was making her angry and the wolf inside of her had a lot of power on her this night. Rafael did not flinch one bit, he just growled back and the whole situation felt stupid. Hope sighed, the light in her eyes dimmed.

"Stop talking about things you know nothing about, Raf." Her rib ached with every breath she took and she felt tired all of a sudden. It was one thing to talk about her faults when it came to Landon but the eternal fault that being a Mikaelson was, was something no one outside of her family could ever understand nor had the right to judge. 

"Explain it to me."

She hesitated. She wasn't too keen on spilling all her misery to a person she was already on bad terms with. But since they were already at the lowest point of their friendship this might be her only chance to prove that she wasn't a horrible person.

"I feel like people only see what they want to see. Yes, I hurt a lot of people in recent times but not with the intent of it. I didn't break up with Landon to take revenge, I did it because he deserves someone who wants him as much as he wants them. Nobody understands what it's like to be forgotten by the whole world and to only have yourself. You reevaluate your life when you have to look into it from the outside. He needed me so much more than I did him and it wasn't fair. We lost something that we never had and if he'd really think about it, he would agree. People think I broke your heart and Landon's heart and in the process even Josie's. But did I? Or did everyone just have unreal expectations of me and asked for things that I couldn't give them. By all means I'm not free of guilt but stop making me the villain of your love stories. I deserve to be happy, and you deserve to be happy and Landon as well, but being with either of you would not have made us that. I'm sorry but-" She was ranting all the thoughts she had for last few days disregarding Raf's opinion of them completely.

"No, you're right." He continued walking through dirt, looking straight ahead. "I know what it's like to be all by yourself. You learn a lot about yourself and the people you want in your life. I get that. But you can't be mad about Landon believing that the two of you belong together. I disagree nevertheless. Even if you don't, he really loves you and for the longest time ever you made him believe you felt the same."

"And for the longest time ever I also believed that. But when I had nobody, I had this longing for someone and I thought it must be Landon but then we were there together...it was still there, this feeling of longing for someone." If it had been anyone else saying that, Hope would probably not have understood what they meant but Rafael seemed to at least try very hard.

"Who is that someone them?" He asked naively. 

"I don't know." Hope ran her hand through her hair. "Let me tell you something about those Mikaelsons you were talking about earlier. We are one for all in or nothing. We don't do easy when it comes to love, it somehow always comes hand in hand with suffering. I thought I was an exception, everything about Landon was easy, but look at us now. Maybe we really are damned for eternity." Her throat escaped a humorless laugh. 

"Do you really believe that?" Rafael sounded skeptical. She didn't blame him, she also once thought it was utter nonsense but reality had hit her like a truck. 

"I guess I do now."

-

It was full moon and Hope finally felt a little bit normal. Hope had found a good rhythm between school, homework and training. Essentially she kept herself busy. Training her fighting skills made her feel alive, made her feel useful. If she couldn't be good at love or friends at least she could be good at this. 

She marched into Alaric's office, all dressed in her training clothes, ready to let all the energy loose. He was nowhere in sight.

"Dr. Saltzmann?!" 

He came into the office after her, on the phone with someone. Upon seeing the tribrid he stopped in his tracks. Raising her eyebrows, she was met by his apologetic look. "No, don't come here, I'll be there soon...I know...yes...see you there." He ended the call to walk across the room.

"A friend?" Hope asked him while Alaric went to a shelf and pulled out a couple of books. 

"No, not really." He put the books on his desks and started looking through one of them. "Look, Hope, I can't train with you today, I need to take care of something."

"Do you need help?" She asked hopefully. If she couldn't train today she could use something else to get her mind of things. "I'm very good at blowing stuff up." The headmaster chuckled.

"Well, today is not that kind of day." 

"Ugh, if I can't train I'm gonna go insane, you realize it's a full moon tonight?" He looked at her and raised a brow.

"You can turn yourself at will, I think you'll be fine. Besides I'll be back before the sun goes down, don't worry." He started packing his things, looking around for his jacket. 

"I'm not worried, I just need to let go of some energy." Hope groaned. 

"I can help you." Hope and Alaric turned around to see Josie standing in the doorway. She looked at them with her big brown eyes, looking very innocent yet determined. "If you're looking for someone to fight you, I will." 

Hope tried to remember if she had ever seen either of the twins physically fight but she could not recall. Sure, Josie was a powerful witch but she certainly wasn't very familiar with martial arts or any other fighting technique. Hope looked the brunette up and down. Josie was a small figure. She was wearing a tight fitting shirt and a skirt that was so short that Hope wondered if it was appropriate school attire. Besides the not-ready-to-fight outfit, her long skinny legs also didn't look very steady. She possessed more of a model type body rather than a fighter. Josie looking at her in expectation pulled her out of her gaze.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Hope spoke slowly.

"Honey, a fist fight isn't exactly your expertise, is it?" Alaric said to his daughter, giving her arm a soft squeeze. Josie rolled her eyes.

"I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve." Alaric seemed to want to counter but his phone rang again. He looked briefly at the screen before turning to the two girls. 

"Alright, I gotta go now. Please behave and try not to kill each other. Hope, if I find one too many bruises on my daughter I will personally kick your ass. Josie, if I find Hope's dead body I will personally tell the Mikaelsons that you were responsible." With that he nodded one more time and quickly left the room. 

"We don't have to, Jo. I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"Try me."

-

Hope waited at the docks while Josie changed into some more appropriate clothing. She didn't know how to feel about this. Should she just let Jo punch her in the face and be done with it? Was that the reason she wanted to fight? So that she could let her anger out on her finally? It wouldn't be a fair fight, Josie could never keep up with her physically. Hope had been training various fighting techniques for years and of course possessed the reflexes and the strength of a werewolf. She felt like Josie would just end up hurt. Once again. 

Since that night at the mill there hadn't been many more interactions. Of course Hope had seen her in class, had greeted her politely and there hadn't been any problems but there was an undeniable elephant in the room and it would be hard to avoid when it was just the two of them. On the other hand of course Hope wanted to smooth things over with the witch and she would never be able to by ignoring what had happened.

Josie came into sight and Hope braced herself for whatever was to come. Josie had put on some shorts and sneakers, but even now she looked the furthest from a threat. The twin stepped in front of her with a slight smile.

"Okay, go." She motioned.

"Go?" 

"Yes, attack me. Go." Hope didn't move one bit, feeling very out of place at the moment. The pure amount of energy that it took to keep up with the tension that came along with this interaction was enough for the day. "C'mon. What, are you scared?" 

Hope huffed and stepped forward reluctantly. Josie raised her brows and Hope thought fuck it. Taking a swing with her right arm, Hope aimed for Josie's face and was surprised to be met by air while Josie ducked behind her. While Hope was already off balance, Josie took the momentum and pushed against Hope's hip, sending Hope to her knees. Although Hope hadn't really given the punch her best she was still pleasantly surprised that the other witch wasn't completely useless in combat. Hope got back up and faced Jo. "Okay."

Giving the new attempt more speed, Hope threw three punches in a row. Left, right, left. Josie blocked all three and managed to knee her in the stomach. Hope tumbled over and coughed. She was genuinely confused. "What is happening?"

"I trained with Raf, he taught me the basics." Josie told her when she straightened back up. Hope had noticed that Rafael and Josie had spent a lot of time together ever since he came back. They were always sitting in class together now, Raf was even sitting at lunch with Lizzie and Jo. First Hope had thought he had tried to right Landon's wrongs but whenever she would look at them they were laughing with each other.

"Is that all you are doing?" Hope scoffed because she couldn't stop herself. Josie furrowed her brows but at the same time stepped forward to throw punches at Hope herself. Hope caught Josie's arm midair and turned her arm onto her back in a swift motion. Josie kicked against her shin and Hope released her with a push. 

"I don't know what you are trying to say, but, yeah, that's what we are doing." 

Hope raised both her arms in front of her face in defense and Josie understood it as a signal for another attack. She pretended to aim for Hope's stomach with her right arm causing the tribrid to lower her arms. Before Hope knew it, Josie's left arm came up flying against the side of her face. The hit came sudden and Hope stumbled back, losing her balance for a moment while her ear rang. It was a proper punch and it took her a moment to recover and stop seeing the brunette in front of her twice. It made her whole head hurt.

"Woah." 

"Why do you care about what me and Rafael are doing?" Josie asked with her hands on her hips. 

"I care about what my friends are doing I guess." Still a little in shock Hope said the first thing coming to mind. "I mean I still consider you two my friends." 

Josie was biting her lip while looking at the young Mikaelson. She looked a whole lot like Alaric when he tried to figure something out, Hope realized. Hope always thought Josie didn't look, behave or think like her parents while Lizzie was very much like Caroline. Jo seemed to come after her birth mother whole heartedly. 

"Are you going easy on me, Hope?" She asked instead of acknowledging Hope's words. 

"Well, you don't have healing powers." Hope shrugged. 

"Stop. Let's see what you got. I can help myself, don't worry." It wasn't that Hope thought Josie couldn't defend herself, it was just that she thought the situation between them didn't call for Hope to punch the witch in the face to make it better. What she wanted was to sort things out not make them worse. She hesitated but Jo looked so determined and ready that she would have felt worse if she had resisted. 

So Hope threw some punches, ducked some and caught some. Josie wasn't too bad, but she wasn't very balanced, just a simple push could send her to the ground. She had good reflexes though, defending almost all of Hope's attempts to hit her with her hand. Using Josie's reflexes to her advantage, she pretended to kick her in the knee with her left leg but then kicked high in a swift motion with her right. She got Josie right in the face sending the girl to the ground. She held one hand against her jaw, her eyes wide open. 

"Did you just kick me in the face?"

"I'm sorry?" Hope was very confused about whether or not she should feel bad. Josie had practically demanded action and so she did it. Of course she didn't want to see her in pain but they were training and it took a lot of effort to get a hit. Josie huffed and smiled a bit while propping herself up on her elbows. 

"You could at least offer to help me up." Josie smirked and Hope immediately felt suspicious about it. The way she was looking at her didn't feel right. Nevertheless she wanted Josie's trust back and if she didn't give away her own trust, how would she ever achieve that? Squinting her eyes together she slowly approached the witch and offered a hand. Hope anticipated to be pulled down alongside her and leaned back a bit in preparation. The moment their fingers touched though Josie's hand started glowing red and before Hope knew it, the twin directed her other hand at her, mumbled something and sent Hope flying through the air. 

Coldness closed in around her as she fell into the lake and she swallowed some water as she had opened her mouth in shock. It was dark around her and she could feel her heart speeding up from the sudden change of temperature. Pushing up to pull through the water surface, she coughed up the water. Sweeping the hair out of her sight and blinking the water out of her eyes, the tribrid looked over to the docks. Josie simply shrugged as Hope raised her arms in question. 

"That is not how fight training works, Josette." Hope exclaimed, though not really angry, and pushed through the water. Her clothes were clinging to her and weighed heavy on her skin.

"Isn't it, though?" Josie sat down on the dock and dangled her feet into the water. "When you're unfortunate enough to be a gemini witch and have to merge with your twin someday, you better have some tricks up your sleeve, right?" 

Hope pulled herself up to sit down next to Jo. At the very least she felt refreshed now after sweating quite a bit. "I mean, I guess. Still rude though." She chuckled. 

Josie turned to look at her and studied her face for a moment while they sat in silence. She frowned even more than her natural face always seemed to and sighed. Hope could feel the water from her hair dripping down her cheeks and braced herself for Josie's thoughts. 

"I'm sorry." The Mikaelson knew that she didn't mean the training and felt disappointed to see that the brunette twin once again felt like she was the one in need of an apology. It made Hope sad that Josie could never just accept that other people had done her wrong, she could always find an excuse for everyone else but her. Putting others first seemed to be her very own agenda. Hope admired it. She had been raised very differently, the Mikaelsons always put themselves first, family was the only thing that mattered, always and forever. She knew loyalty but she did not know selflessness. But Josie was an expert at that, Hope couldn't help but think it was the twin's best and worst trait at the same time. Her fatal flaw. She often thought that the witch was too nice for this world.

"I know. Me too." Hope said slowly. "I'm the one who made everyone miserable. I should be the one apologizing."

"No." Turning her gaze back to the lake, she spoke sincerely. "What I said about you at the party was awful and causing that scene was even worse. That's not me...I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." 

"I know that you aren't like that. You were drunk." 

"I was angry." She answered pointedly. "At me, at Landon, at Lizzie, at you, honestly at the whole world but mainly me. Once again I had put myself into a situation that was meant to fail from the beginning. I think I was just disappointed that nothing ever works out for me. I don't love Landon. But it was just so good, it felt right and easy. I tried to blame you but it made me feel even worse because I knew it wasn't true. It's not your fault that he doesn't want me, it's not his fault that you don't want him, it was just an unfortunate series of events." 

Hope could relate to that on several levels. She was right, Josie wasn't exactly the lucky twin not in relationships and not in life. Hope was relieved to hear that at least she wasn't in love with Landon, although she understood that this breakup was about a lot more than love. 

"Besides what I said about you was all lies. I know what it is about you that makes everyone go crazy when you just walk by. I mean I felt it too for the longest time ever when we were younger. And it's not your kissing skills. I'm also terribly sorry about kissing you without consent, that was very anti-feminism of me and I really, really felt awful about it. Please forgive me." Their eyes met and Hope could see the desperation in the brown eyes. 

Her whole body had felt like it was pulling itself together when Josie had said those first sentences. Thinking about the kiss made Hope feel things she couldn't put into words. Yes, it had been a humiliating moment but the kiss itself had felt kind of...nice? 

"I forgive your lack of feminism." She felt like that was the only thing she could be sorry about and offered a warm smile to which Josie nodded. "You sound like you have it all figured out."

"I have figured you out a long time ago, Hope Mikaelson. You're one of a kind. Besides the bad stigma that comes with your name, you show people every day who you really are. A fighter. You fight for your own redemption but you have an honest heart. Your kindness and your strength is what draws people in. And, I mean, your face is alright too." Josie gave her a cheeky smile and Hope chuckled. 

Her own redemption? Josie must have spent a lot of time thinking about Hope and her family, more than even her own reflection had to offer. It was a fair point though, redeeming all the guilt from a thousand year old Mikaelson history was her biggest challenge. One she would never see the finish line of. Josie out of all people should know that you can't escape your family's past and traditions. The gemini coven wasn't exactly the family people wished for either. 

"That's very sweet. But I meant you had your life figured out already." A little blush hushed across both of the girls' faces. Both of them stared into nature, the sun warming them. 

"Oh, yeah, I think I'm deemed to lose at life." Josie said it so nonchalant that in the first moment Hope didn't know how to react.

"Stop it." Was all she could bring forth.

"No, I mean it quite literal. I will definitely lose at the merge, so I will die. I lose at life." No matter how hard she tried to sound monotonous, Hope could tell it laid heavy on the other girl. And it laid heavy on her too. She didn't like to think about it, there was always a loop hole in nature, there would be one for this as well. She had always believed that or hoped for it to be true.

"You don't know that."

"I do. I will neither kill her nor let her die for me." 

"We will find a solution, I'm sure. And you don't lose at life just because some things aren't going picture perfect." It was the understatement of a century and Josie laughed humorless. "You are the kindest soul in this god forsaken school and you have people around you that love you. There is so much more to come for you. Take this from someone whose life everyone thought they could predict. Sometimes life takes unexpected turns for the better and it is worth living every bit. I can't see the future but I know that I want to see yours. You think I'm strong but you underestimate your own power. We will find something that makes you live longer than 22, I'm sure of it." 

The young wolf had felt the need to let her know that she wasn't alone in this world. She would never want Josie to feel the way she had once felt. Lonely. And she could tell every word mattered to the other girl who now looked at her with glossy eyes.

"I missed you, Hope."

"I missed you, too."


	3. Oof, indeed

The light slowly but surely crept through the night, starting to turn the dark blue sky purple. If it had been any other day he would have loved the sight. He used to love nature and animals and people. He had spent more time outside as a child than anyone else he knew. He would just wander about, breath in the fresh air and make flowers blossom. It used to be his favorite thing, back when he was still able to feel the joy of life. Everyone in his coven had known than he was the anchor between witchcraft and nature. Well, turns out they were wrong.

He hadn't moved in four hours and if he hadn't already been dead, he thought he might have died of boredom at this very moment.

If this girl took any longer he would have to leave. The sun was rising and his skin started to tickle the more the light was coming through the trees. Maybe she wasn't as predictable as Claire had said. She told him the girl came out every morning before dawn to make a run as a wolf. Of course, he didn't want to pass her when she was turned but he would have liked to pass her at all. Looking at the sky and back down at the watch on his wrist, he sighed. It was pointless, he figured and jumped down the tree he was hiding in. He would need to talk to Claire again. Nevertheless she would have to come out at some point and he would pass her up alone, he was sure. But for now he had no other choice but go inside. If the sun burned him to ashes he would never get what he wanted.

-

Hope had regained some happiness. She didn't feel like people were looking at her funny anymore and she felt as if she was slowly reestablishing her friendships. Rafael had started to talk to her when she saw him, sure it was irrelevant stuff but at least they were on talking terms. The Saltzmann twins had started to genuinely smile at her when she entered the classroom and it felt wonderful. Still, the people she spent most time with were MG and Kaleb. She didn't have many classes with them but when there was free time on hand they would get together.

"No, I don't like badminton, either." Hope announced and MG started to pout. He had given it his all to find a sport that Hope enjoyed but it was pointless as she didn't like any. One after another he had listed, even listing things that were sheer impossible at this school. Like, where exactly were they supposed to do synchronized diving?

"You said no to everything!"

"Yes! And I'm starting to feel like you don't get the hint." She crossed her arms and Kaleb started laughing behind her. Before she knew it she was pushed forward towards the big field.

"Badminton it is." He declared and Hope groaned. MG's face on the other hand lit up and he started running towards the school, probably to get the equipment.

"I have never played badminton in my life." They didn't even have a net. She wasn't an expert but she felt like that was an essential for this sport.

"Me neither." Kaleb shrugged. "But we played four hours of chess yesterday for you and believe me it cannot get more boring than watching MG think about every move for twenty minutes!"

He was right. They had really played for four hours but they had only made it through two games and by the end of it Hope had sworn herself to never play chess ever again. Not with MG and not with anyone else. So compared to yesterday it could only get better.

MG came back with a big smile on his face and three rackets. They drew an imaginary line in the field and started to play vampires against witch. Hope did not have high expectations but she really was surprisingly bad at badminton. She had good reflexes but the speed of the vampires made it impossible to get to the ball. So she started to redirect the balls with magic. It was an epic battle of force. Until MG caught the ball with his hand and started grinning at someone behind Hope.

"Jo, do you wanna play?" He yelled over to the path next to the field where the witch was standing. Hope turned around to look at Josie. She had raised one hand to shield herself from the sun and smiled a small smile. She looked beautiful. Her hair was curled and it flowed effortlessly over her shoulders. She wore a blue blouse with the Salvatore crest on it combined with a grey skirt, it looked very good together. Hope also couldn't help but realize that Josie had gotten tan throughout the past few weeks.

"I'm meeting with Raf now." She yelled back. "Also, I don't like badminton."

"Yeah, me neither." Hope mumbled and she could see Kaleb rolling his eyes. And even though she shared the dislike of the sport she felt a bit disappointed. Her insecurities about the situation between her and Josie came back and hit her like a truck.

"Alright, see you at dinner." MG turned back around, throwing the ball over to Kaleb. Josie waved over to her and smiled one last time before walking inside.

"I'm holding up my end of the deal, when will you do your part, Hope?" MG pulled her out of her thoughts and she turned to look at him confused.

"Huh?" Kaleb sent the ball at her and to her her joyful surprise she managed to hit it back over to the boys.

"You said you'd help me with Lizzie if I'd help you with Josie. So when will you help me?" 

She would have definitely remembered if she had said such thing and knowing that she would never say she wanted anything from Josie she knew it couldn't be true. Not that she minded MG trying to get Jo to spend time with them. Of course she liked spending time with her, Josie was a delight to be around but she would never ask someone else to make her do it.

"You call that help, bro, she didn't even come over here." Kaleb pointed out before Hope could say anything, completely ignoring the fact that Hope had never asked MG to do anything. "That was by far the worst attempt at being a wingman I have ever seen in my entire life and after that." 

"Are you serious? You wouldn't be any better." MG took full offense and pulled a face. Kaleb dropped his racket to point his finger at the fellow vampire.

"I'm not the one making promises."

"There were no promises exchanged." Hope tried to point but it was no use.

"I remember specifically that when you promised to be my wingman you actively tried to sabotage me. So how about that?!" Why were they yelling, honestly? Hope thought about just leaving when Kaleb yelled back.

"That was my sister, bro!" Kaleb pulled on her arm. "Hope, I will help you. I'll show you how it's done." He lied an arm around her shoulder and MG scoffed.

"What, no. I need Hope to put in the effort with Lizzie. Why would she do that if her and Josie won't ride into the sunset at the end of this?"

"She doesn't want to do that either way." It was like she wasn't even here anymore. Before she knew it and before she could stop it the two vampires had already made a bet to see who would be the better wingman. No one listened to her, no one asked her if she even liked Josie, no one cared for her existence. Again. What a day.

"Hey, guys, I don't want to do this just like I didn't want to play badminton." She stomped her foot like a little child.

"Yeah, well, you did play badminton in the end though, right?"

-

In preparation of finals the whole school turned down in volume, energy and mostly fun. Even a school full of witches that could control almost everything in nature at will, wolves that knew the worst pain imaginable and vampires that were gifted with eternity could be stressed about failing an exam. It was almost hilarious. People were on edge and Hope was confronted with this edge almost everywhere she looked. MG had walked straight out of a window on Monday while reading a book about magical history. He fell down two stories and when asked if he was okay he had yelled "I cannot remember the names of the first witches that were burned in Salem and I can't find it in this godforsaken book, no, I'm not okay!" to a first grader. Hope had decided to not talk to him until this was all over for her own good.

On Tuesday she had witnessed Rafael and Landon talking in the library about vampire's mind control. With no warning whatsoever Alissa Cheng had thrown a book across the room, while saying something about 'this being a library and not a fucking farmers' market'. The book hit Landon straight in the face and knocked him out for a couple of seconds which then led to Rafael offering Alissa to rip her arm off her shoulder. The tribrid had left the room at that, seeing that Landon was okay and fearing that Alissa might burn the whole building down.

It was tense to say the least.

The most concerning incident however occurred on Wednesday when Hope accidentally ran into Lizzie who then dropped her tea because of it. She didn't yell at Hope, didn't insult her, didn't even look annoyed.

"Oh, sorry." She had mumbled and then just continued walking down the hall, never even looking back at the spilled tea. Hope had never been more frightened of the twin than in this moment. 

Today she had decided to study outside in the sun away from all the crazy people. She was sitting in the grass with four books around her, scribbling into her notebook. She was writing an essay about magical power resources and had decided to write about doppelgängers. Now she was deep into ancient magic and wished she hadn't already told Emma what her essay would be about. It was a lot.

She had just made a side note about witchcraft and greek mythology when she felt something weird. It felt as if someone was watching her. Looking up from the page she looked around herself, seeing no one but a couple of younger students eating lunch on a bench. She couldn't hear anything but the feeling wouldn't leave her. Mumbling the words to an exposing spell she stood up. No one magically appeared and it was open field in front of her. Something caught her eye way back in the woods. Something blinked in the sun but she couldn't make out what it was. The same moment she decided to go and find out what it was someone put their hand on her shoulder. She flinched and immediately formed a ball of fire in her hands ready to throw it.

Josie jumped back with her eyes wide open.

"It's me! It's me." She held up both her hands in surrender. She didn't look scared to Hope but certainly shocked. Not being able to let the tension go her eyes wandered back to the woods. No more blinking. Nothing to see.

In careful demeanor Josie stepped forward and gently touched Hope's hand, siphoning magic from her. The fire in her hand disappeared and Hope let out the breath she was holding.

"Woah, what was that?" Josie asked while letting go of her hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Hope brows were still furrowed when she responded slowly. "I just- I thought...I thought I had seen someone."

"Who?" Big brown eyes looked her up and down and then alarmingly around the two of them. Hope thought that Josie in those space buns and floral tank top must not look very threatening to any intruder but it comforted her that she was here. Hope almost never felt safer with someone around except maybe Freya. And that was only because she knew her aunt was beyond wise and powerful. The realization of Josie being an exception loosened the tension in her shoulders. The twin might not look the part but she was definitely not a power to be messed with.

"I don't know. I just felt like somebody was watching me and then- nevermind." Hope rubbed her forehead.

"And then what? Where did they go? Let's find them." Feisty like she was, the witch looked about ready to start a fight, making Hope smile.

"No, it's fine. I don't even think it was a real person, might have been a random reflection or something." She shrugged it off and sat back down in between her books to then look up at the brunette. Josie still looked a little worried.

"Did you need something?" It sounded meaner than Hope intended but at the very least it made Jo look less worried and more embarrassed.

"Why do you immediately think I need something? Can't I talk to you like the friends that we are?" Although Hope liked the idea of them being friends again, she had to laugh at the question. Hope motioned for her to sit which she did.

"Of course, you can. But you look like you want something from me. So...do you?" She tried to say it as sweetly as possible and Jo rolled her eyes but smirked.

"I wanted to ask you a question." Hope's smile widened and she hummed.

"How Lizzie of you to say it like that." They laughed while Josie laid back in the grass, propping herself up by her elbows. Looking at each other, Hope felt warmth from within her chest. Quickly looking away, she started to sort a couple of papers.

"I don't think you can use the name of my sister as an adjective."

"Well, she is one of a kind so it seems reasonable." Hope ran her hands through her hair before looking back at Josie.

"Fair."

"Ask me already."

"Right." Josie sat back up. "So, my essay about resources of magical power is going to be about the differences between siphoning and channeling." Hope nodded. "Emma said I need some case studies for my thesis. The problem is that I never had to channel another witch because, you know, siphoner and all. So I need to try channeling now."

"Do you want me to show you how?"

"No, I was wondering if I could channel you for the study." Josie poked the tribrid's shoulder with a hopeful smile.

"Oh, why me?" Hope all of a sudden felt a little shy.

"You're a powerful witch and you can heal yourself. My aunt Bonnie said it can be very damaging and I wouldn't want to seriously hurt someone. Also I enjoy spending time with you so a win-win situation for me."

Heat rising up her cheeks, Hope looked down at her notes. Was it anxiety about spending time with someone who she had a difficult relationship with or was it excitement about being close with her again? It was hard to tell with all the rumbling going on in her chest.

Instead of dealing with such overwhelming questions Hope paddled back to the scientific yet magical part of this endeavor.

"Well, Bonnie is right." She said. "It is dangerous. Not to praise myself but my power is a lot to deal with, take it from the person who does every day. I'm not sure if you would be safe."

"Are you saying I can't handle you or do you just not want to do it?" Josie challenged her, raising a brow. Why did she have to ask such intense questions?

"I'm saying-" She cleared her throat. "We need to be very careful, because I wouldn't want you to get lost in my magic and accidentally drain me."

"Okay, okay, no draining, I promise. Just a teeny tiny bit of channeling. Why don't you come over to our room after dinner and we'll try it, yes?"

Hope sighed and Josie leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "Okay, great. See you later." And with that the twin jumped to her feet and walked towards the school entrance, leaving Hope to herself again.

"Okay, great." She mumbled to herself, her heart beating profusely and her own essay and the shimmer in the woods long forgotten.

-

Teeth crashing down on each other, a spoon falling down to the ground with a ringing sound and mumbling over mumbling. Staring at her own plate, she kept very still and waited, trying to sort all numbers of sounds. The dining hall was filled with students and it took her all to concentrate.

"Can you hear them?" Hope jumped when MG's voice rang so loudly in her ear, she could have sworn something momentarily shattered in her brain. She shot him a sharp look.

"Not when you're talking to me, I can't. Why don't you listen yourself?"

"I'm eating, all I hear is the crunch." She rolled her eyes while her friend stuffed his face with yet another salad.

"Then shut up." MG held his arms up and made a hand motion to zip his mouth. He had spent the majority of dinner trying to convince Hope to listen in on the Saltzman's conversation who where sitting a couple tables away. She felt it was a violation of privacy and tried to tell him they would not appreciate being spied on but he insisted. He had threatened to go over and ask if the two of them could join their table. Hope wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Mainly because she avoided Lizzie like a plague. She didn't want to end up with a fork in her hand just because she accidentally mentioned something distantly related to exams, studying or even just paper. But also because she was a little bit nervous about her and Josie's meeting later that night. She felt she could use some more preparation for that.

Hope took a deep breath and tried again. For better luck she looked over at the table where the two witches were sitting with Rafael and...Landon. Her heart skipped a beat. She hadn't noticed him before, a student that got up from the table in front of them had revealed him. Words flowed into her ears all of a sudden.

"I'm gonna fail magic history for fucking sure." Landon announced and took a big bite of his burger, he chewed but continued to talk. "I didn't think it would be possible but it's somehow even more boring than human history."

It was enough for Lizzie to slam her fist down on the table and make a shrieking sound. Landon looked at her confused and stopped chewing for a moment. "Uh, oh."

"Look, Lizzie, it's me who will fail, this has nothing to do with you, okay? I'm sure you'll do just fine. You're like smart, right?" Josie shook her head at Landon's words and stabbed her fries with the fork.

"Just fine?" Hope was glad she wasn't able to see the expression on her face. "Am I really going to let someone who looks like a poodle on crack in the rain, insult my intelligence? I don't think so." The blonde left her food untouched, got up from the table and left the room.

"She said this to me yesterday. She's getting lazy." Landon shrugged, returning to his food, while Raf held back a laugh.

"She's stressed." Josie argued. She appeared pretty content with the company of the two boys. Hope wondered whether or not it was a true image of Josie's feelings. It was often hard to tell since she had a well known history of keeping her own emotions hidden to make others feel better. How hurt by Landon's actions was she at this point?

"Are you going to the library later, Jo? I was hoping you could help me with geography."

Rafael asked the remaining twin. Josie's brown eyes flickered over to Hope, who quickly tried to look anywhere else, grabbing her glass and taking a hopefully diverting sip of water while heat rose up her cheeks.

"Um, no, I'm meeting up with Hope later." She answered and even though Hope couldn't see her face, she could hear the smile in her voice.

"Why would you do that?" Rafael sounded disappointed. "I didn't know you two were talking again." Hope desperately wanted to see their three faces and disappear at the same time.

"We are friends. I've known her since I was a little kid."

"I know for a fact you never liked her back then." Ouch.

"I do now."

"Yes, but you have good reason to be upset with her." Why was Rafael so keen on Josie disliking her?

"I'm not going to hold against her that she is a desirable woman and that magical amnesia messed us all up, now, am I? I don't hold a grudge and I really don't want it to be weird anymore. I mean this in the kindest way possible, Raf, but it really isn't any of your business who I spent my time with. So before you say anything stupid, I urge you to reconsider. You never know who might be listening."

-

"Oof." MG grimaced.

"Oof, indeed, MG. How embarrassing." Hope rubbed her forehead. "Now she thinks I'm stalking her. Very helpful, thanks."

"It's hardly my fault that you were staring at her like she is the light of your life." She wished Kaleb was here to kick MG in the shin.

"Yes, it is!" She packed her things up, carefully avoiding anything happening to her left side. "'Light of your life'? Are you a poet now? Get a hobby." With that she left the hall to the sound of MG's laugh.

-

She knocked three times.

Lizzie opened the door with way more aggression than the piece of wood deserved. "What?"

"Um..." Hope cleared her throat as the twin stared her down. "I'm looking for Jo."

"No, leave." The door was shut in front of her eyes. Staring at the dark wood, Hope contemplated whether she should risk knocking again. There was a discussion going on behind it, some back and forth before the door opened again. Lizzie stormed past her with an armful of books. "You are ruining my day, Mikaelson!" She yelled at her while rushing down the hallway. When the blonde hair vanished behind the corner, Hope turned back around to face the room.

"Hi." Josie smiled softly and waved her inside. Hope stepped in and closed the door behind her. "Don't take it to heart." Folding a shirt up and putting it onto her bed, Josie stepped around it to sit on the ground where a couple of candles formed a circle.

"If I did, I wouldn't have a heart at this point." She responded and followed suit, sitting in front of her.

"Some people would think so." Jo joked, tying her hair back into a ponytail.

"Hm, Raf, yes."

Raising an eyebrow, the brunette in front of her tilted her head. "You really want to talk about this?"

"Look, I'm just really sorry for listening in on you guys. It was just- I'm sorry." She shifted uncomfortably.

It wouldn't have made her feel any less embarrassed if she had explained the reason for spying and MG's role in it. That would have only led to more questions that were better left unanswered for her own mental state. It was funny how Hope could be so confident and strong when it came to defending others or standing up for what's right or voicing her opinion. But this, a little bit of shame made her long for the loneliness of Malivore again. She was only thankful that embarrassment made her go backwards instead of aggressively forward in true Mikaelson fashion, resulting in people getting their throats ripped out. Her father would certainly be tempted.

"It's fine. I get it."

"Yeah?" Hope's interest sparked.

"Sure, Landon and all. It's a sticky situation." Hope didn't see the point in correcting her, so she nodded. "Sure."

Turning her gaze to the ground, she tried to focus back on what she came here for. Four tall white candles stood on each side of them, the two witches sitting crisscrossed. Hope's wandering gaze got stuck on Josie's smooth legs since she was wearing shorts. She swallowed and adverted her gaze back to the girl's face who was thankfully concerned with the small notebook in her hands. Looking either up or down, both felt threatening, she realized.

"So how do you want to do this?" Hope broke the silence, making Jo put the book aside.

"I already wrote about my experience siphoning from you, you know, for comparison reasons and all." She nodded. "So now we'll just go, I guess." Didn't really sound like plan to the tribrid.

Josie reached out and intertwined their fingers, making them glow red before raising the other hand and lightening the candles as well as extinguishing the light of the lamps. She then let go of Hope's hand to lean back and offer her a small smile, seemingly a bit uncertain and relying on Hope to take the lead. The young Mikaelson reached around her neck to take off one of her necklaces. Looking at it, it was a silvern pendant in the form of a crest with a big 'M' on it. The Mikaelson family crest. She handed it over.

"This doesn't contain magic but it has deep emotional value and it's representative of a part of me."

"Yeah, you wear it all the time." She turned the pendant in her hand.

"Mhm, but it's not a talisman or anything like that, so all the power has to come from you and our connection." Channeling was a tricky business. Connecting minds in that way was dangerous, especially when the outcome was so unpredictable. Being a gemini witch came with unknown territories and Hope was also a species of her own, making it impossible to know how this would go, how much magic Josie could handle.

"However, I also brought you this." She pulled a daylight ring out of her pocket. "You are magical but also kind of not, so I thought maybe we could use some sort of jump start. I'm not sure if channeling works if there is no magical energy source within you. The magic in the ring is not by me and it's not a lot."

"Okay." Josie closed her fist around the ring and it glowed shortly. "I was thinking of clearing the sky from clouds." It sounded more like a question than a statement so Hope nodded in response. It made sense. All of that energy had to go somewhere so it wouldn't get stuck in this room and cause a tragedy. From nature to nature.

"Do you know what to do?" Josie shrugged and Hope decided it would be best to let her try on her own first, in order to write a good description for her essay. Also she didn't feel comfortable putting herself in an all-knowing position when Josie was very capable on her own.

Josie held out the necklace in the middle of the circle and closed her eyes. They fell silent and Hope was left with the sound of the running AC and a couple of people walking past the door. All Hope could do was look at the other girl's face, waiting for something to happen. A little wrinkle had formed between Jo's eyebrows while she was trying to make this work. Hope's eyes travelled down her straight nose to her full lips on her 'upside down mouth'. It was a shame she couldn't see her eyes when Hope had always thought they were the girl's best feature. Sure, Josie hadn't always been the kindest soul towards her but even when they were younger, Hope had always found it interesting how different the twins' eyes were and how much they said about them. Lizzie's restless, sharp and easily turning cold blue eyes created a hard contrast to the unwavering warmth and steadiness that laid in Josie's brown ones.

"Nothing is happening." Hope was pulled out of her trance when Josie spoke up. Her eyes were open again and now searching for answers in Hope's. "Do you feel anything?" Yes.

"No." She sat up straight. "Were you concentrating on me or the necklace?"

"I guess a bit of both."

"Okay, since I can't touch you, you have to focus on me a little bit more than usual, yes?" Josie nodded, closing her eyes again. "Think about how I look first. Try to create an image of me in your mind. My face, my eyes, my hair." The twin inhaled deeply and tilted her head towards the ceiling. "Think about how I walk, how I talk, the sound of my voice-"

"The way you smile?" The left corner of her mouth lifted upward.

"The way my magic feels when it runs through you. You know me. You know my magic. You just need to find it in your head."

Nothing happened for a moment, until Josie's smile fully faded and the wrinkle reappeared. Hope felt something rumble inside of her, in the depths of her chest. It felt like something was trying to break free, was pulled away from her grip. Her heartbeat picked up, sounds started to fade but then- Nothing. Josie sighed.

"I can't do it." She tried to hand Hope the necklace back.

"Of course you can." Hope gave her a soft smile. "You lost your grip but you were almost there, I could feel it."

"Are you sure?" Doubtful.

"I am. Let's try it differently. You just listen to my voice and visualize what I say." Josie offered a reluctant nod and settled back in, her fingers closing in on the pendant.

"Do you remember when you, Lizzie and I were outside of your mom's house; I think you were maybe eight. The garden was full of these big yellow, orange and red leaves, that had just fallen. I was letting them float and dance around in the air while the two of you were watching. The adults were inside, discussing whatever tragedy was going on back then. You were sitting in the tree that lost the leaves, the hideous one that looked like it would die soon at all times and you had those pink pants on, that you wore for like a year straight.

Anyway, you asked me how it was possible that I was capable of something as beautiful as magic and at the same time be cursed by the moon and sun alike.

Lizzie said that she didn't believe in my tribrid powers and that it was just another lie to put me in the spotlight once again. I got really mad, dropped the pretty leaves and we started yelling at each other. You were just in the middle looking from left to right. And then for some odd reason we decided we would settle this by attempting to magically pull those powers out of me and turn me into that wolf without triggering the curse. As if children could just do that; or anyone for that matter. But we were determined and whatever we did that evening, I'm still unsure, it ended with me having five broken ribs.

I was lying there on the ground and you kneeled down beside me, trying to get me to stop from moving around. I was a mess.

You put your hand on my shoulder saying 'you're okay, you're okay, you're okay' and then siphoned my magic to mumble a spell. The pain vanished just like that, the ribs were still broken but I didn't feel it anymore. It felt as if you had sucked the pain right out of me. When you saw that I was fine, that's when you let yourself panic and screamed for help, running inside to your mom. But it didn't matter at that point, you were all the help I needed."

While she said those last words the link finally connected. No more noise. Her vision closed in on the sides, all she could see now was Josie. The tension from her muscles lifted, oxygen rushed into her lungs and Hope let her mind loose, let herself be channeled.

And before she could stop it and without the intention to do so, she could feel the loss of the hold on her thoughts. Some of her memories started flowing into Josie's mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This year is so fucking long that even I have to give you another chapter. Your welcome.
> 
> I appreciate you putting your thoughts into the comments.
> 
> Bye bye


End file.
